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Need help with heat and hot water issue

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenthere

Does the boiler reach temp when the indirect calls?

You'll have to check the wiring connections at the boilers aquastat.

No, it doesn't seem to be reaching temp.But I do have hot water. Just the radiant heat is not sufficient and the thermostats don't reach temp as does the boiler. It was reaching temp prior to me changing out the pump and putting a new well on the aquastat in the indirect. Maybe the aquastat on the indirect is faulty or not working properly after putting a new well thats not original on it. In my previous posts I mentioned that the aquastat well I changed was different than the original one in that it did not have a bracket that mounted to the stat. I just plugged the aquastat bulb in the well and hung the stat against it. I'll post a pic of it when I get a chance. I also mentioned that the aquastat bulb was darkly discoloured. I check the wiring again a see if theres any loose connections. Will post back with an update.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

Unless the indirect is being used as a buffer tank, the indirect and its well don't have control over your heating loops.

You had heating and hot water problems before you changed the circ, thats why you changed the circ.

Discoloration of the bulb is not unusual.

You have a rats nest of wire connections from the zone valves. Could be a loose wire in there.

Do you have a volt meter?

Could be that you need to purge your radiant loops. But, air wouldn't prevent the boiler from reaching temp.

I do have a voltmeter but I don't think there's a problem with the wiring because the boiler did reach temp prior to changing the circ. I spoke to one of my friends dad who owns a plumbing and heating company and he told me to flush the boiler. I mentioned I didn't do that after I replaced the circ and I did notice a considerable amout of gurgling in one of the pipes after. I will do that and go from there.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

Flushing a boiler is one of the worse things to do to a boiler.
Purging isn't good either. But its a necessary evil to get air out at times.

Once again. AIR will not stop the boiler from reaching temp. Ubnless its in the boiler. In which case, your indirect wouldn't be heating either.

Weird, after I did some laundry I checked the boiler and the temp was at 190ish, psi 20ish. Then I checked it again about 45 min later and it went back to the 140ish mark again. I didn't flush the sytem though since you said its not good to do. So how would I get air out of the pipes. Maybe there is air in the boiler itself? Cause I did a flush before I changed the circ out. Do you think I damaged the boiler maybe by flushing the first time? I made sure the boiler was cool before I did the flush as I heard that running cold water through a hot boiler is really bad.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

It was up to 190 because the indirect called for the boiler to recover it.

If there was air in the boiler preventing it from heating up for you radiant zones, then it would work the same for the indirect.

I didn't really take notice to a good purge set up in any of the pics you posted.

Purge valves should have been installed for each heating zone. Were they?

I would find out why the boiler isn't getting a call to run when the heating zones call. Brfore I purged or bled the system and put more fresh water into it then needed. Fresh water, is the enemy of your boiler..

Need help with heat and hot water issue

It was up to 190 because the indirect called for the boiler to recover it.

If there was air in the boiler preventing it from heating up for you radiant zones, then it would work the same for the indirect.

I didn't really take notice to a good purge set up in any of the pics you posted.

Purge valves should have been installed for each heating zone. Were they?

I would find out why the boiler isn't getting a call to run when the heating zones call. Brfore I purged or bled the system and put more fresh water into it then needed. Fresh water, is the enemy of your boiler..

Sorry what I meant was purging the boiler and loops of air not flushing. There are purge valves for each zone. I'll posts pics of them along with this post. So what are the right steps involved in purging?

The first 2 pics are the zone purge valves close up and the 3rd pic are all the valves together.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

Your going to end up putting lots of fresh water into the system.
I'll tell you how to do it. But, its not whats causing your boiler not to heat up on a heat call.

Shut the stop valve at each purge valve. Connect garden hose and run it to a drain. Open purge valve, and then open fill valve.

Run until all air is out(hard part is telling when all air is out).
Then close fill valve, and then close purge valve. And open shut off..

Before you add all this fresh water to your boiler. Look for your control problem.

Ok, thanks for the step by step instructions.
I just notice that when there's a call for hot water the boiler will heat up to temp but the thermometer on the zone pipes does not. I also notice that theres a lot of gurgling in the zone pipes. I rememeber I purged the zones but I might have forgotten to shut the shut offs on the other zone valves so that might have let more air in.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

Ok, it's not a problem with air in the lines. It must be a control issue as beenthere was saying. How can I isolate the problem? I have a volt meter so what should I check first? The thermostats on every zone doesnt seem to be reaching set temp.

Need help with heat and hot water issue

Quote:

Originally Posted by beenthere

Low voltage wire connections at the boiler control.
If they are ok. then work your way back to the zone valve,

My bad.. I'm an idiot. Always gotta learn the hard way.
Which wire would be the low voltage wire? Theres a multi function aquastat on the boiler itself. Also there's a transformer and some other component on the side of the boiler with wires going to the zone valves. I remember I touched one of the wire connections on the transformer and it sparked. Wonder if I messed something up there? That was before I changed the circ. I will post some more pics for you to analyze. Thanks Beenthere!!!!